1959 Edsel Corsair Intake Manifold and Fender Skirt Refresh

[goodfellow]

14 years I've been helping a dear old friend spruce up his 1959 Edsel Corsair. The car is a classic and worth some time to get back into shape. My friend is in his 80's and still has the passion for old cars. For the past week he's been working circles around me in this heat, and is always ready for more. You "gotta" have respect for someone like that -- others his age are sitting in a nursing home, and this guy tinkers with cars  thumbsup2

Anyway, here is the car as it started out -- the intake manifold was corroded and needed a good cleaning and new gaskets.  The oil pan was loose and needed to be resealed, while the auto transmission lines were rethreaded and tightened. Other engine jobs included straightening a slightly bent lifter, new FE bushings, and new paint on the engine and valve covers. All-in-all it took a week to get everything done.





We painted the fender skirts with polyurethane enamel to match the color of the roof -- a nice contrast to the slightly pink (off white) main body color.



Taking her apart



The proud owner ---



The intake manifold was leaking oil and needed a new gasket set -- the old OEM cork gasket material  took a LOT of scraping to remove





Not OEM correct because Ford Edsel 332 V8 engines were painted "Black" back in those days, but that doesn't look so nice. So we opted for Ford "blue" --





Water pump was cleaned and painted in Tractor Supply Farm Implement "gloss black", and it flowed very nicely.



Slowly going back together --











Radiator was painted "gloss black"



Air filter housing was media blasted and painted Ford "Blue"









After everything was reinstalled, the lower body and undercarriage was power washed and the car received a much needed "wash 'n wax"









It was a great week to spend with an old friend and work on an old classic.

That was 2011, and the wonderful thing is that the owner of this fine automobile is still alive and kickin', and happily residing in a retirement home. The car found a good home with one of his family members and is still being driven to shows and parades for others to enjoy as well.

[jabberwoki]

World's heaviest intake manifold eh

[goodfellow]

World's heaviest intake manifold eh

Old school and definitely heavy cast iron. In it's day it was quite the ride, and I think Ford lost money on every one of their EDSEL cars.

[walrus]

Same FE in my mustang only mine is 390. Soon as I saw the oil filler I knew. Cool car not my style but thats a beauty.Props to you guys keeping it on the road.

[goodfellow]

Yes, it was a great ride. The only thing we could never get running was the radio power supply which was basically a tube type supply hidden deep inside the passenger side dash. I tried talking him into a Vintage Tunes radio that looked like a period radio from the outside, but was a modern fully integrated entertainment system.

Bottom line; he wouldn't hear of it. Wanted to keep the original, and was hoping to get to fixing it "someday". I don[t think that ever happened.

[jabberwoki]

   
I always remember a story told to me by an old hot rod engine builder about the Edsel fe being abit different.
I asked him to tell me the story again this is it.



The difference is the intake valve. The remaining parts are identical.
 Ford changed the intake valve and seat angle from the 45 degrees, to 30 degrees in 58 for the 352, 361 Police and hi-po engines.
All Fords 'FE' hi-po engines, (352, 361, 390, 406, 427)  did as well. -- It's a way to create a notable increase in air flow for the lower valve lifts that street engines have.
The exhaust ports are all the same.

The early 58 Edsel 361 engines, also had a special hydraulic camshaft to go along with the heads. That's why apparently they made good hp. Ford also used the 4 barrel manifold and carb off of the 58 352 solid lifter, Police engines. Those are probably impossible to find. A guy raced an old State Patrol 4 door 58 Ford. It had factory fabricated exhaust manifolds which were simular to the factory iron but, maybe half again in size.

There were too many complaints on the Edsel about idle not being smooth and unhappy customers. Sooo, Ford issued a recall to replace the camshaft with the 352 cam.
It's not known if all engines were changed.
I've researched it some but no luck. The sources believed Isky ground those for Ford. -- I don't believe that. Ford had the ability to do all in house and local cam supplier's who ground for all the auto makers.

[Uncle Buck]

That was very interesting info and a good read there!